It is a different tone I take with you tonight different to how I have addressed you before.
We all love the Essendon Football Club.
I love the Essendon Football Club. I always have.
Since I was a boy it was perfect.
Somewhere to escape to dream, and a place to belong.
Breathtaking moments in history to treasure … a place where champions are made.
It is a beautiful place.
And the heart and soul of this place is its people.
It’s the players, the staff, their families, and most of all – the supporters.
Essendon is a place where we can all belong, and where we can all share in a collective dream.
I understand the way you look at me tonight, looking for reassurance our beautiful place will be OK.
I promise you that it will be.
The hurt of the past few weeks is still raw, but it is this room that gives me strength - given how you all have stood behind the club in its hour of need.
I want so badly to repay your faith and support.
And it starts tonight.
The issues of the last month are galvanizing the Essendon Football Club together.
We will get through this and we will be a better, stronger organization.
We will look back on the start of season 2013 as a difficult time, but as a watershed moment.
A moment when we confronted our mistakes, when we learned some tough lessons, and when we took stock.
Tonight I’m asking you to continue supporting our great club.
But more than this, I’m calling on you to be part of the solution.
I know the depth of passion and commitment that Essendon people have for their club, and that’s why I am confident we will get through this.
But it will take us all to stay strong, and stay together.
I’m also confident our players will be fine, and we will do everything we can to make sure they get to play … and play with the dignity and skill that they have always shown.
The past few weeks have been incredibly tough on the players.
I would like to acknowledge the support that the players have given me and indeed the support I have had from the coaches in taking the action we have.
We are so blessed to have such a resilient and determined group of payer’s at our club.
Mistakes have been made, and I sincerely apologise that they have occurred.
We will get to the bottom of what happened, we will make sure those mistakes never happen again.
It is hard to say much more than that right now … because while we know some things, there is so much we don't know, and we’re continuing to piece together a long and complicated jigsaw puzzle.
I don't want to dwell any more on what has happened … but I commit to you that we are making progress.
We will rebuild, we will protect our players, and we will win back the respect of the football community.
So tonight let’s look forward.
Let’s celebrate our club starting another new season, celebrate the will of our coaches for success and celebrate our young men, who I am sure will do us proud.
To the players, play with passion and skill and know we are with you.
To James and your team … go forward with our support and pride.
To Jobe and the leadership group … never stop believing in the dream.
The love of the club I spoke about is mirrored in the hearts of so many.
Your dreams are theirs … that can be daunting, but at the same time inspiring.
So friends … even when things look bleak, positives can still be found without looking too hard.
Our new facility at Melbourne Airport is not far from completion.
Exciting new recruiting and development practices have been put in place.
And our membership numbers tell us that a powerful Bomber Army has emerged this year.
We have wonderful support from our commercial partners and I want acknowledge our co-major partners Kia Motors Australia and True Value Solar for their unwavering and passionate support. It’s great to have Kia’s Chief Operating Officer Tony Barlow in the room tonight.
There’s our emerging partnership with the Australian Paralympics …. our wonderful sponsors … and a season that sees the rebirth of our stand-alone VFL side playing at the grand old Windy Hill.
The Essendon Football Club has been a proud part of the Victorian community, an icon of the Australian sporting landscape, since 1872.
It’s a club that has survived the Great Depression and two World Wars.
We will more than survive this!
If we have done wrong, we will face our mistakes.
But never let our good name and principals be diluted.
Essendon is a place to belong, it is a place to treasure, it is a place to dream.
It is a beautiful place, and we are the people of the Essendon Football Club.
Thank you for coming along tonight, and thank you for staying strong.
